Valencia CF withstood a late onslaught from Real Betis to move up to second in La Liga with an enthralling 6-3 win at the Benito Villamarin on Sunday.
The visitors looked to be cruising to a fifth win in eight games this season as Geoffrey Kondogbia, Goncalo Guedes, Rodrigo and Santi Mina fired them into a 4-0 lead with just over 10 minutes to go.
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However, Betis threatened a stunning comeback as three goals in five minutes from Joel Campbell, Antonio Sanabria and Cristian Tello set up a thrilling finale.
More drama was to come, but at the other end as the on-fire Simone Zaza drilled home his seventh goal in eight games to make the game safe before Manchester United loanee Andreas Pereira rounded off the scoring in stoppage time.
{{/usCountry}}More drama was to come, but at the other end as the on-fire Simone Zaza drilled home his seventh goal in eight games to make the game safe before Manchester United loanee Andreas Pereira rounded off the scoring in stoppage time.
{{/usCountry}}Valencia are now four points adrift of La Liga leaders Barcelona with third-placed Real Madrid a point further back.
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Leganes’s fantastic start to just their second season in the top flight also continued as they compounded more misery on Malaga with a 2-0 win at La Rosaleda to move up to sixth.
Malaga remain winless and rooted to the bottom of the table, five points off safety.
Cedric Bakambu’s double handed Villarreal a 2-1 win at Girona.
And Eibar moved out of the relegation zone despite failing to turn their dominance into goals in a 0-0 draw at home to Deportivo la Coruna.